The application was dismissed for want of jurisdiction, with costs reserved for 21 days. The Tribunal held that its jurisdiction under the Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016 is confined to disputes between building contractors and owners, and does not extend to disputes between building contractors and subcontractors. The definitions of 'building contractor', 'owner', 'subcontractor', 'dispute' and 'residential building work contract' in ss 4 and 45 of the Act collectively exclude subcontract disputes from the notice of dispute mechanism in s 47 and from the Tribunal's determinative powers in s 59. Section 4(2)(c), which provides that performing residential building work includes work arranged under a subcontract, does not create a freestanding right for a building contractor to bring a subcontractor dispute before the Tribunal; it merely ensures that subcontract work is attributed to the building contractor in disputes with owners.
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